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Mercator v Reality (i.imgur.com)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by Blaze@sopuli.xyz to c/map_enthusiasts@sopuli.xyz

With a human face

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[-] Beacon@fedia.io 20 points 1 month ago

It sucks that mercator became the standard map. I know basically nothing about maps, but i know how not-great mercator is. Of the little i know about cartography I like Winkel Tripel the best

[-] loaExMachina@sh.itjust.works 38 points 1 month ago

Dln't quote me on this, but from what I've heard, the Mercador projection became standard because it's good for navigating since qit conserves angles. Draw a strait line depicting your current trajectory and another the trajectory that would get you where you want, measure the angle between them, and that's the actual angle you need to turn.

[-] Repelle@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago

Yeah, it’s actually a really great map for its purpose of navigation, which is a pretty damn important aspect of map usage. I’m tired of everyone shitting on it because of that scene in west wing.

[-] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 month ago

It’s great for navigating at sea, but bad for looking at the world as a whole. Nowadays most people use maps for the latter; hence the complaints.

[-] Repelle@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Sure, that’s why I qualified with “for its intended purpose”. It’s not a great classroom map but it is perhaps the most historically important projection. The problem is this idea of “Mercator bad” has entered public consciousness. For example, the start of this thread mentioned “how not-great the mercator is” without any such qualifications.

[-] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 month ago

Maybe one day I’ll get a Cahill-Keyes projection on the wall. I think it’s useful to see how surface areas compare.

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this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2024
252 points (98.1% liked)

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